Micah 7
1Woe is me! 1 I have become like the gathering of summer fruit, 1 and like the grapes that have been gleaned; 1 there is no grape cluster to eat, 1 no ripe early fig that my soul desires. 1
2Faithful people have disappeared from the land; 1 there is no upright person in all mankind. 1 They all lie in wait to shed blood; 1 each one hunts his own brother with a net. 1
3Their hands are very good at doing harm: 1 the ruler asks for money, 1 the judge is ready for bribes, 1 and the powerful man is saying to others what he wants to obtain. 1 Thus they plot together. 1
4The best of them is like a brier, 1 the most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. 1 It is the day foretold by your watchmen, 1 the day of your punishment. 1 Now is the time of their confusion. 1
5Do not trust any neighbor; 1 put no confidence in any friend. 1 Be careful about what you say 1 even to the woman who lies in your arms. 1
6For a son dishonors his father, 1 a daughter rises up against her mother, 1 and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 1 A man's enemies are the people of his own house. 1
7But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. 1 I will wait for the God of my salvation; 1 my God will hear me. 1
8Do not rejoice over me, my enemy. 1 After I fall, 1 I will rise. 1 When I sit in darkness, 1 Yahweh will be a light for me. 1
9Because I sinned against Yahweh, 1 I will bear his rage 1 until he pleads my cause, 1 and executes judgment for me. 1 He will bring me to the light, 1 and I will see him rescue me in his justice. 1
10Then my enemy will see it, 1 and shame will cover the one who said to me, 1 “Where is Yahweh your God?” 1 My eyes will look at her; 1 she will be trampled down like the mud in the streets. 1
11A day to build your walls will come; 1 on that day the boundaries will be extended very far. 1
12On that day your people will come to you, 1 from Assyria and the cities in Egypt, 1 from Egypt to the River, 1 from sea to sea, 1 and from mountain to mountain. 1
13But the land will be desolate 1 because of the people who are living there, 1 because of the fruit of their actions. 1
14Shepherd your people with your rod, 1 the flock of your inheritance. 1 They live alone in a thicket, 1 in the midst of a pastureland. 1 Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead 1 as in the old days. 1
15As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, 1 I will show them wonders. 1
16The nations will see and be ashamed 1 of all their power. 1 They will put their hands on their mouths; 1 their ears will be deaf. 1
17They will lick the dust like a snake, 1 like creatures that crawl on the earth. 1 They will come out of their dens with fear; 1 they will come with fear to you, Yahweh our God, 1 and they will be afraid because of you. 1
18Who is a God like you— 1 who takes away sin, 1 who passes over the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? 1 He does not keep his anger forever, 1 because he delights in his covenant faithfulness. 1
19You will again have compassion on us; 1 you will trample our iniquities under your feet. 1 You will throw all our sins into the depths of the sea. 1
20You will give truth to Jacob 1 and covenant faithfulness to Abraham, 1 as you swore to our ancestors in ancient days.